I got my dive certification while serving a 6 month tour with the MFO in the Sinai. The Red Sea is an absolutely beautiful dive spot.

It's spectacular. I'm heading back from 13-20 July for another weeklong trip. Additionally, I'm doing a week long liveaboard in November as part of a scientific expedition to gather information on shark populations in the Red Sea. So, I get to dive with sharks, shark researchers, and learn about all things Sharky (not the gay kind we have here). I'll get to photodocument Hammerheads, Oceanic Whitetips, Threshers, Black Tips, Grey Reef, and the odd Tiger should it appear again.

I saw plenty of black tips, a few hammerheads. The black tips like to get close. The most exciting experience was being within a few feet of a manta ray. I couldn't believe how huge those things are. Glad they are friendly.

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I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I require the same from them.

I grew up in north Florida in the 1960s and 1970s. When I was a youngun the Ichetucknee River was uncontrolled and we hauled out tons of garbage mostly beer cans. Now the place is pristine. If you ever get to the area you really should tube the Ichetucknee. I never got around to diving much less cave diving but it seems like in those days people drowned in caves all the time. My wife and I stayed in a B&B in Mayo in the 1990s and there were a group of cave divers we shared breakfast and dinner table with. The constantly joked about booze and occasionally having some blood in their alcohol streams being a recurring joke. We spent a week there and near the end of the week two of them didn't come back for dinner. They had drowned. That was a real bummer end to a vacation. It seems like alcohol permeated the sport. I knew Sheck Exley, he of course died underwater. I knew several others who died underwater, mostly stupid risk taking. I always had the impression that cave diving was insanely dangerous.

The Ich is awesome, we've been there at least a hand full of times this year already, glad to hear it was cleaned up, because now it's amazing. Got married at Jug Hole, which is a really fun but short cave dive. Love that place.

There are some goofs in cave diving, it attracts idiots who feel they have a lot to prove, generally they filter out by either scaring themselves or dying. The current trend is super rich russians who come to town and drink and spend money like there is no tomorrow. Drinking and cave diving do not mix well imo.
Cave diving itself can be done really safely, follow established rules and protocols and you can enjoy it for years and years...however it is an environment where if you play fuck fuck games you will pay a heavy price. The only friends I've had die were pushing limits in ways that normal cave divers don't do....like no mount, all tanks off, wriggling into fissures...that type of thing.
I solo back 2-3k in caves most every weekend. It's super fun and calming. Most socom types have the mentality to enjoy it and conduct very safe dives imo.
With the proper training it's really not that dangerous.